A blog for passing time, and passing messages about media, about media ecology which is the study of media environments, about language and symbols, about technology, about communication, about consciousness, about culture, about life and the universe, about everything and nothing, about time...

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Yes Again, Squire

So this is a follow-up to my previous post, Yes, Squire, where I related my longstanding affection for the music of the progressive rock band Yes, on the occasion of the recent passing of their bass player Chris Squire. That post included one of the band's songs that highlight Squire's unique ability to turn the bass into a lead instrument, "Heart of the Sunrise," which appeared on their fourth album, Fragile, released in 1971.Fragile came out in November of 1971, while earlier that year, in February, Yes released their third album, The Yes Album. Their first two albums were interesting, but this third was the breakthrough that defined the group as a progressive rock band. The album featured 3 songs that were approximately 9 minutes long, and a fourth that was almost 7 minutes, all of them exhibiting the kind of complexity that served to define the progressive genre.

The Yes Album was the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who had replaced original member Peter Banks. And it was the last, at least for many years to feature keyboard player Tony Kaye, who was replaced by Rick Wakeman on Fragile. Consequently, the keyboards are less prominent on The Yes Album than on Fragile, allowing for more emphasis on the interplay between guitar and bass. Along with Squire, Howe, and Kaye, the album featured Jon Anderson as the lead singer, and Bill Bruford doing percussion.One of those 9-minute songs is called "Starship Trooper," a name taken from the Robert Heinlein novel, Starship Troopers, published in 1959. Heinlein, a science fiction writer heavily influenced by general semantics, used the novel to express his own views concerning military service, meritocracy, and individualism, conservative views that have been subject to some criticism. The novel served as the basis for the somewhat satirical, postmodern science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven and released in 1997, also called Starship Troopers. It's a very interesting film, and successful enough to have spawned a couple of not so interesting sequels.

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But that's really besides the point, as the song bears no relation to Heinlein's narrative, aside from the title. And while the title suggests a science fiction theme, and the song has often been thought of in that regard, the lyrics actually have very little to do with that genre, and are more spiritual in nature. But the music does lend itself to a sense of flight and space travel, especially due to Squire's booming bass.
The song is credited to Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, and Chris Squire, listed in alphabetical order. And it's listed on the album as divided into 3 parts:

a. Life Seeker

b. Disillusion

c. Würm

The parts are not credited, although some sources say that "Life Seeker" is primarily by Anderson, "Disillusion" by Squire, and "Würm" by Howe. Some may find this manner of listing the song as pretentious, but it does speak to the complexity of the music, the interweaving of different themes and types of music into a seamless whole. I supposed you could consider side 2 of the 1969 Beatles album, Abbey Road, as a precedent for that sort of thing, as Yes did take pieces that previously were separate and mix them together to create "Starship Trooper." but on Abbey Road the different songs are very distinct, more of a medley than a merging, whereas the transitions that Yes work out are not so much jump cuts as they are a unified montage.
Anyway, this song does not single out Squire's bass as much as "Heart of the Sunrise," but I think you can see how powerful it can be working together in the ensemble. As in the last post, credit goes again to vzqk50HD Productions for the video's visuals:

And here are the lyrics:

Sister bluebird flying high aboveShine your wings forward to the sunHide the myst'ries of life on your wayThough you've seen them, please don't say a wordWhat you don't know, I have never heardStarship trooper, go sailing on byCatch my soul, catch the very lightHide the moment from my eager eyeThough you've seen them, please don't tell a soulWhat you can't see, can't be very wholeSpeak to me of summerLong winters longer than time can rememberThe setting up of other roadsTo travel on in old accustomed waysI still remember the talks by the waterThe proud sons and daughter That knew the knowledge of the landSpoke to me in sweet accustomed waysMother life, hold firmly on to meCatch my knowledge higher than the dayLose as much as only you can showThough you've seen me, please don't say a wordWhat I don't know, I have never sharedLoneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away foreverAll I know can be shown by your acceptance of the facts there shown before youTake what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusionAs I see a new day in me, I can also show it you and you may followSpeak to me of summerLong winters longer than time can rememberThe setting up of other roadsTo travel on in old accustomed waysI still remember the talks by the waterThe proud sons and daughter That knew the knowledge of the landSpoke to me in sweet accustomed ways

Clearly, this is not really a science fiction song, but it does convey a sense of the celestial, and that is very much what Yes is all about it, at least when they are at their best.